Procedure to Correct Bad Serial Number with Special Symbol

Q - From time to time, either due to the bar code label or the bar code scanner, we get a bad scan of the serial number as we receive it. Since the receiving staff usually does not look at the serial number, they scan it in. So the problem does not get discovered until we try to sell the item. Luckily, there's a great utility that allows us to fix the bad serial number by going to I/M -> Processing -> Serial/Lot/Bin Processing -> Serial/Lot -> Util -> Serial Correction Tool.

However, we have a special situation now. It seems like the bad serial number we scan has something special inside it. Now we can't use this utility to correct it. See example below:

A - You are correct in that there's probably a special symbol inside this serial number. It's important to find out the exact symbol in order to fix this problem. What you need to do is to go to PSQL Control Center and bring up the IMLSTRXS table by using the following SQL script:

where 'BEJ9A4F10' is the corresponding item number. Once you execute this SQL script, you will see the data returned back las follows. You see the INV_LS_NO column has a row showing the value 'A<60@M'. See sample screen below:

Right click on this cell. In the popup menu, choose "copy."

Then paste it to the Notepad. See sample below.

Because of the font you use with Notepad, most likely you will not see the special hidden symbol. You will need to use "Format" -> "Font" and change it to "Terminal" font. See sample below:

Terminal font is designed to show all ASCII characters. So now you may see the special symbol show up. The following is an example:

In the above example, we need to figure out what that special symbol of the left and right arrow is. Below is an ASCII table provided for your reference:

From the table above, you can see the special symbol of the left and right arrow is ASCII code 29.

It is important to change to the "Terminal" font in order to enter the special symbol. Now enter the item number, location, and the serial number up to the special symbol position. See sample screen below:

Now hold the alternate key and enter the ASCII code of the special symbol on your "numeric keypad." Please be aware that you need to add a leading zero in the font. In this case, if you enter ALT-29, it will produce a "?" symbol. You will need to enter ALT-029 in this case. See the following example:

Now you are ready to enter the reset of the serial number and the new serial number in order to resolve the problem.

Please be aware that the "Serial Number Correction" tool will only allow you to correct a serial number before the item is sold. Once you have sold the item with that serial number, you cannot use this tool to correct the serial number.